Re: AW: [HACKERS] Re: [GENERAL] users in Postgresql

Peter Eisentraut <e99re41(at)DoCS(dot)UU(dot)SE> writes:
>> The sysid is essential for one of the authentication methods available in
>> PostgreSQL
>> (was it ident, I forgot) where the unix system password was used.

> Can't be ident, since I am running it with differing user ids. Perhaps
> some odd usage of password authentication, but I don't use that too much.
> Hence, can anyone comment on this?

AFAIK it's not *essential* to make Postgres and Unix UIDs the same
... but I think it is convenient to do so from an admin standpoint.
(One less set of numbers to keep track of, and one fewer way to get
confused about who is who.) I would not like to see you remove a
feature that makes it easy to do that.

Of course there's no value in it if you are running a setup in which
not all the Postgres users have Unix-system accounts. But that doesn't
mean there is no value in it for installations where there is such a
correspondence.

regards, tom lane